He said there were "scenes of considerable distress" and "increasing irritation" because of a lack of information about their fate.

A woman whose mother was on the plane waited for hours without any news and expressed her anger at the way the airline is handling the incident.

Describing the scene inside the room where some 500 relatives are waiting for news, she said: "They used a bus to bring us here, in this hotel. They only give us bread, biscuits and water, that's all.

"There is nobody from the airline, not even one person. Every time I ask 'where is the airline staff; what's the latest?' They say, 'we are only volunteers, we're hotel staff, we're not from the airline'."

Malcolm Moore, the Daily Telegraph's Beijing Correspondent, said the relatives have been taken by bus to a hotel in the centre of Beijing.

He told Sky News: "There has been no official confirmation (about what has happened), but it's looking increasingly grim."

The plane left Kuala Lumpur at 12.41am local time and was due to arrive in Beijing at 6.30am local time.

Malaysia Airlines said the flight was carrying 227 passengers, including two infants, and 12 crew members.

They were from 14 countries - 152 plus one baby from China, 38 from Malaysia, 12 from Indonesia, seven from Australia, three from the US, three from France, two from New Zealand, two from Ukraine, two from Canada, one from Russia, one from Taiwan, and one from the Netherlands.